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"Quick, send a message to the Third Hokage, have him arrange for more ninjas to come."
"No, have the Third Hokage come in person!"
In the Fire Country Daimyo's mansion, after hearing from the steward that the Daimyo's family in the Water Country had been wiped out by an unknown ninja overnight, the Fire Country Daimyo, who had always been calm and collected, was panicked.
He quickly ordered the steward to send a message to Konoha, asking for more ninjas to come protect him. He even asked the Third Hokage to come in person.
The Daimyo was scared!
The fear that the God of Shinobi had once instilled in them had returned, and it was even stronger.
Because the God of Shinobi wouldn't attack them for no reason.
But the ruthless person who wiped out the Daimyo's family in the Water Country would definitely attack them.
So, the Fire Country Daimyo was completely panicked.
Not only the Fire Country Daimyo, but as time passed, the news of the Daimyo's family being wiped out in the Water Country spread. The Daimyo, or rather, all the Daimyo nobles in the other Five Great Nations, were panicked.
They all strengthened the ninja guards around them.
At the same time, they increased their financial support for the Hidden Villages.
For a time, the Hidden Villages were stunned by this sudden windfall.
They inexplicably felt a wicked thought in their hearts.
If the Daimyo's mansion were to cut off their village's financial support next time, could they impersonate wandering ninjas and attack the Daimyo's mansion?
Hmm... No, no, no. If they messed up, they would really be finished.
Those in the Hidden Villages who had wicked thoughts quickly dismissed the bad thoughts in their hearts. Now, they had to find the audacious person who dared to wipe out the Daimyo's family in the Water Country.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to explain it to the Daimyo's mansion.
For a time, the major Hidden Villages in the ninja world all dispatched their Anbu ninjas to search for suspicious individuals.
At the same time, the major Hidden Villages, especially the Five Great Villages, immediately expanded their stockpiles of combat supplies, such as kunai, shuriken, and explosion tags.
The Second Shinobi World War had only been halted, not ended.
Except for some small countries being wiped out, such as the Land of Sky.
And some small country Hidden Villages being destroyed, the Five Great Nations and the Five Great Hidden Villages, although they had all suffered losses, had not achieved their strategic goals, or rather, they had not gained any benefits.
The major nations were also dissatisfied. It was believed that the Third Shinobi World War would begin soon.
It was very likely that... because Kenshi wiped out the Daimyo's family in the Water Country, causing the Daimyos of various countries to increase their financial support for the Hidden Villages, the Third Shinobi World War would come earlier than in the original story.
However, this was none of Kenshi's business.
While the ninja world was in turmoil, he had already thought of a way to join Nagato and the others.
The Rain Country, literally a country where the sky never clears.
In the middle of a brown rocky valley, there was a small village with a dozen or so families.
Because of the frequent rain, the houses in the Rain Country all had round roofs that made it easy for rainwater to flow off.
At this moment, half of the roofs of the dozen or so round houses had holes in them. There were also several large puddles on the ground of the village that hadn't been filled in.
All of this spoke to the wounds of war that had not yet disappeared from this village.
At this moment, a fine rain was falling. Below, in the village, the villagers were all hiding in their houses. Those with doors closed their doors tightly. Those without doors hid in dark corners, waiting for the outcome outside in fear and helplessness.
At the entrance of the village, two groups were facing each other.
One group had the standard two-male-one-female configuration.
The leader, a boy, was a young man, but his expression had the composure of an adult, making people inexplicably trust and feel at ease.
The girl was beautiful. Although she was a young girl, her figure had already begun to develop, revealing a hint of the charm that only an adult woman could possess.
The remaining boy had long red hair covering his eyes, his features obscured. He stood beside the boy with brown hair, seemingly a little timid, but his figure was straight, not that of a timid person.
These three were naturally the three that Kenshi was looking for: Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan.
After Jiraiya left, the three started traveling through the Rain Country. They originally wanted to join Hanzo and contribute to peace in the Rain Country.
But along the way, they saw many villages that were helpless and were robbed of food by various Rain Country ninjas who were resisting Hanzo.
From the mouths of some Rain Country ninjas they stopped and defeated, Yahiko learned about the current situation in the Rain Country.
Before the Second Shinobi World War, Hanzo was the god who brought peace to the Rain Country. He used his powerful strength to protect them from the threat of the three major nations' ninjas fighting each other.
But Hanzo, who suddenly declared war on the three major nations and launched six years of continuous war, caused the Rain Country to suffer enormous war damage. Countless families were broken, countless people died, and orphans were everywhere.
As a result, many ninjas who survived the war began to question Hanzo's decision to start the war. They believed that Hanzo was the one who had brought the Rain Country to its current state.
If Hanzo hadn't arrogantly thought he could defeat the three major Hidden Villages, the Rain Country wouldn't have been beaten like this, and so many people wouldn't have died.
Many Rain Country ninjas whose relatives died innocently in the war began to disobey the management of the Hidden Rain Village's Hanzo.
And ninjas, after all, were a group of people who only knew how to fight. They needed to survive, they needed to eat and drink, so they could only steal.
The current Rain Country was like a country whose government had lost its authority. It amplified the malice in many people's hearts, and arson, murder, and robbery were happening everywhere.
The Hidden Rain Village couldn't manage it. They had also suffered heavy losses in this war. This led to the Rain Country, after the end of the war, being as chaotic as if it were still at war.
Seeing this, Yahiko changed his mind.
He didn't want to join the Hidden Rain Village and fight against the Rain Country ninjas. They were all from the same country. What was the difference between this and self-destruction?
Moreover, many villages needed stability, they needed to recuperate.
So, Yahiko decided that he would protect these villages.
That's how it was. From the day they decided, Yahiko and Nagato, along with Konan, put on the headbands of the Hidden Rain Village. They began to protect the villages as ninjas, accepting commissions from the villagers.
Their fees were very cheap. They only needed some food to survive.
But at first, they didn't gain the villagers' trust.
It wasn't until they volunteered to help five villages drive away the invading wandering ninjas without asking for money or food that their reputation gradually spread.
Today, they received their first official commission: to protect the village behind them for a month. The fee... they just needed enough food to survive.
The five people who were facing off against Yahiko and the others were also wearing the headbands of the Hidden Rain Village. They were not from the Hidden Rain Village.
At this moment, the young male ninja at the front, holding two kunai in his hands and with blue markings on his face, frowned and asked Yahiko and the others, "Who are you?"
"This village's bodyguards."
Yahiko stood with his hands resting on his swords, his young face exuding an aura of composure. He said calmly, "Starting today, this village will be protected by us."
"I warn you, leave the village immediately."
Yahiko's words carried absolute confidence, or rather, a determination to protect the village behind him to the death.
This confidence and determination stimulated the young male ninja leading the other side. He had once been a hero who protected the village. But now, to survive, he had to become the person he hated most.
Seeing the belief in Yahiko's tone, he felt as if he had done evil and suddenly had a change of heart. He became furious with shame and anger.
"Go, kill them!"
He said, and he charged towards Yahiko with two kunai in his hands. The other four companions, not very old, around seventeen or eighteen, charged towards Yahiko with him. The other two charged towards Nagato and Konan.
It was clear that these five people had fought together before.
They cooperated seamlessly, and their tactical choices were also right.
They focused three people on killing Yahiko, the seemingly strongest leader, first, while the other two held back Nagato and Konan.
After killing Yahiko, they would then support the other two companions to kill Nagato and Konan.
Unfortunately, in the ninja world, the gap between geniuses and ordinary ninjas was too great.
"Water Release - Water Disturbance Wave!"
Yahiko formed a hand seal with one hand and spat out a large amount of water, instantly dissolving the three people's attacks.
Konan's Paper Release danced, easily blocking the kunai that were shot at her. Then, she used Paper Release shuriken to force the person to stand still, unable to move.
The person who charged at Nagato was even more powerless. He was easily blown away by Nagato's Wind Release.
If Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan hadn't planned to kill these people, they would have died the moment they engaged in combat.
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